1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a child-resistant closure, and more specifically, to a closure having an inner cap and an outer cap which must be manipulated in a specific manner in order to remove the closure from a container to which the closure is attached.
2. Description of the Background Art
Various child-resistant closures are known in the art. For example, Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,787, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by references, discloses a condition indicating child-resistant closure assembly including an inner cap, an outer cap, and a bridge member located therebetween. The inner cap includes a top wall having a post extending therefrom which is extendable through an aperture in the top wall of the outer cap. The bridge member is positioned in a recess of the inner cap top wall and is freely rotatable on the post between a first position prohibiting the inner and outer caps from being interconnected for removal from the container, and a second position permitting the manipulation of the outer cap relative to the inner cap for interconnecting the inner and outer caps for removal of the closure from the container. The outer cap includes a plurality of flexible fingers extending from the inner surface of the top wall which are adapted to engage the bridge member for moving the bridge member alternately between these two positions Stop members are arranged on the top wall of the inner cap for limiting rotary movement of the bridge member between the two positions A coil spring is mounted in coaxial relationship with the post and is positioned between the bridge member and the inner surface of the top wall of the outer cap for biasing the outer cap outwardly relative to the inner cap.
Further, Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,632, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a child-resistant cap which includes an inner cap threadably mountable to a container, and an outer cap which includes a pair of spring legs which engage ramps extending upwardly from the inner cap. The free ends of the spring legs slide up the back sides of the ramps and over the lip portion of the ramp to hold the outer cap upwardly in spaced relation to the inner cap to maintain the closure in a child-resistant mode as the outer cap is continually rotated counter-clockwise. To interlock the inner and outer caps, the outer cap is rotated clockwise relative to the inner cap until the free ends of the spring legs engage the front sides of the ramps, thus stopping further clockwise rotation of the outer cap. At this position, a pair of lugs on the outer cap become aligned with respective inclined slots on the inner cap such that the outer cap may be moved axially toward the inner cap, and thereafter the outer cap is rotated counter-clockwise to thereby move the lugs into abutment with closed ends of the slots, whereby the inner and outer caps become interlocked in a non-child-resistant position and further counter-clockwise rotation allows the inner cap to be removed or unscrewed from the bottle or container.
While these arrangements are useful for providing a child-resistant closure, there exists a need for a closure which is extremely reliable and easy to manufacture, and having a minimum number of components to assemble. Further, there exists a need in the industry for a closure which automatically returns the closure to a child-resistant mode when the outer cap is released